HBA reporting offline status in vCenter on ESXi 8.0
Article ID: 449925
Updated On:
Products
VMware vSphere ESXi
Issue/Introduction
- Host HBAs report an "offline" status within the vSphere Client. While the status appears cosmetic with no immediate impact on virtual machine accessibility.
- It requires a manual refresh or rescan to return to an "online" state. This behavior is often observed on ESXi 8.0 Update 3i hosts using Cisco UCS VIC adapters.
- Storage adapters show status "Offline" or "Down" in vCenter.
- Status clears only after performing a manual refresh or storage rescan.
- Synchronized link events across multiple hosts in the same cluster.
- The following entries appear in
/var/run/log/vmkernel.log: ####-##-##T##:##:##.###Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu##:#######)NVMFEVT:616 vmhba# NVMe adapter's link is down ####-##-##T##:##:##.###Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu##:#######)HPP: HppPathGroupMovePath:688: Path "vmhba#:C0:T#:L###" state changed from "active" to "dead"
Environment
- VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x
Cause
- A synchronized failure across multiple hosts indicates a disruption in the common storage fabric or storage array.
- A secondary factor is a mismatch between the
nfnicdriver and Cisco VIC firmware, preventing the driver from correctly notifying ESXi when the link returns to an online state.
Resolution
- Verify the physical fabric status (switches and storage array) for port flaps or hardware failures coinciding with the link-down timestamps.
- Check the current driver and firmware versions using the command:
esxcli software vib list | grep nfnic - Compare the results against the .
- Align the driver and firmware to certified levels. For ESXi 8.0 U3, ensure the driver is updated if currently mismatched.
- Perform a manual rescan of the storage adapters in vCenter to refresh the logical status.
- If the status does not return to online, reset the HBA via CLI:
esxcli storage san fc reset -A vmhba# - If the issue persists, contact .
Additional Information
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